Rabbit of Seville
Rabbit of Seville is a Warner Bros. Looney Tunes short, released on December 16, 1950. It was directed by Chuck Jones and written by Michael Maltese. The short was re-released on January 18, 1969 as a Blue Ribbon Merrie Melodies short (the short was left unchanged except for the addition of a W7 logo to replace the original WB logo; the W7 Looney Tunes opening and closing may have also been used in place of the originals). The production code for its 1950 release is 1138; the production code for its 1969 re-release is 7301. The cartoon, in a plotline reminiscent of Stage Door Cartoon, features Bugs Bunny being chased by Elmer Fudd into the stage door of the Hollywood Bowl, whereupon Bugs tricks Elmer into going onstage, and participating in a break-neck operatic production of their chase punctuated with gags and accompanied by musical arrangements by Carl Stalling, focusing on Rossini's overture to The Barber of Seville. Stalling's arrangement is remarkable in that the overture's basic structure is kept relatively intact; some repeated passages are removed and the overall piece is conducted at a faster tempo to accommodate the cartoon's standard running length. In 1994 it was voted #12 of the 50 Greatest Cartoons of all time by members of the animation field. Plot The cartoon opens with people filing in to see "The Barber of Seville". In the back of the theater, Bugs is chased by Elmer and runs through an open back door. Elmer, now behind the curtain, doesn't see it rise when Bugs raises the curtain. The conductor, after a brief confused look at his watch, shrugs, then starts the orchestra, which causes Elmer to turn wide-eyed towards the audience. Bugs then steps out from behind a stage door, dressed in a barber's outfit and ropes Elmer into getting a shave, rendering him "nice and clean, although his face looks like it might have gone though a machine". After recovering, Elmer starts the chase again (performing his only line in the cartoon: "Oh, Wait till I get that wabbit!"), but is stopped by Bugs dressed as a temptress (possibly Rosina from the actual Barber of Seville opera), singing, "what would you want with a rabbit? Can't you see that I'm much sweeter? I'm your little senioriter. You're my type of guy, let me straighten your tie, and I will dance for you." He then ties Elmer's shotgun into a bowtie (no dialogue is heard from this point onwards until the end) and snips off Elmer's pants suspender buttons . After being thoroughly embarrassed when his pants fall down, Elmer sees through Bugs' disguise, he tries shooting him, but is blown back into the barber's chair. Bugs has another go with Elmer's scalp, beginning with a scalp massage with his hands and feet, turning his head into a fruit salad bowl (complete with cherry on top). Elmer chases Bugs again, but Bugs plays a snake charmer to get an electric shaver to chase Elmer. Elmer disables the shaver with a shotgun blast and chases Bugs back to the barber's chairs. Bugs and Elmer raise their chairs to dizzying heights, and Bugs cuts loose a stage sandbag which bonks Elmer, causing Elmer to wander around in a daze until he's back (yet again) in Bugs' barber chair. Before Bugs' third go-round with Elmer's scalp, he gives one of his feet a pedicure with a can opener, hedge clippers, file and red paint. This is followed by growing a beard on Elmer's face and shaving it with a miniature mower, and finally beauty clay for the face which Bugs handles like cement. Then it's back to the scalp as Bugs massages it with hair tonic first, then adds "Figaro Fertilizer", causing hair to grow from Elmer's head which sprouts into flowers. A short 'arms chase' ensues as a result where Bugs and Elmer chase each other off stage with bigger weapons (first axes, then guns, then cannons). Finally, Bugs ends the chase by offering flowers, chocolates and a ring to Elmer, who ducks offstage and comes back as the blushing bride, happily wanting Bugs to marry him. The tune then briefly switches to the "Wedding March" by Mendelssohn as the couple marries, before finishing with Bugs carrying his 'beautiful bride' up a long flight of stairs, through a false doorway (opening up onto thin air), and drops Fudd down into a wedding cake labeled "The Marriage of Figaro". Bugs then looks at the camera, smirks as he munches on a carrot, and says, "Eh... NEXT!". Gallery Production details * The "Barber of Seville" poster that appears at the start of the film features three names: Eduardo Selzeri, Michele Maltese and Carlo Jonzi, which are Italianized versions of the names of the producer (Eddie Selzer), writer (Michael Maltese) and director (Chuck Jones) of the film."Rabbit Of Seville Production Information". bcdb.com, March 27, 2010 * In one shot of the scene where Bugs massages Elmer's head in time to the piano melody, his hands are drawn with five digits instead of the usual four (in other words, he has five fingers as what a real life human would have) to match the hand of a piano player. Censorship *The ABC airing of this cartoon mutes out some of the sound effects of Elmer shooting in the beginning of the cartoon. The shot of Bugs slashing Elmer's face with a razor was also cut by replacing it with a cropped shot of Bugs holding a mirror (which appeared after Elmer got slashed) and grimacing in disgust while the sound of the slashing played as normal. Also cut was the segment where Bugs ties Elmer's gun into a knot. It skips from the shot of Bugs doing a provocative thrust backwards towards the camera to the shot of Elmer being flung back into the barber chair, attempting to suggest some continuity between the two. Availability *DVD - Looney Tunes Golden Collection: Volume 1, Disc One *DVD - The Essential Bugs Bunny *Blu-Ray/DVD - Looney Tunes Platinum Collection: Volume 1, Disc One *DVD - Looney Tunes Musical Masterpieces The audio on the DVD incorrectly has the volume at a lower pitch than usual. This is fixed on The Essential Bugs Bunny but not on the Platinum Collection. Trivia *This cartoon was briefly shown on the TV sets in the penthouse of Gotham Royal Hotel in the video game Batman: Arkham Origins, specifically during Joker's confrontation with Batman when about to detonate the Woolworth building's top. Music from the episode and the opera it was largely based on was also playing in the background during this scene. References *Lawrence Van Gelder, With That Wascally Wabbit, That's Not All, Folks, NY Times, October 22, 1999 *Richard Freedman, What's Opera, Doc?, Adante Magazine, March 2002 Category:Looney Tunes Category:Looney Tunes shorts Category:Bugs Bunny shorts Category:Bugs Bunny Category:Elmer Fudd shorts Category:Elmer Fudd Category:Bugs and Elmer shorts Category:Directed by Chuck Jones Category:1950 films Category:1950 shorts Category:Chuck Jones Enterprises Category:Warner Bros. Animation Category:Animated shorts Category:Warner Bros. 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